


What Happened To Us

by tbiru



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Abusive Pepper, F/M, Hurt Tony Stark, M/M, Manipulative Pepper, Multi, Panic Attacks, Team as Family, domestic abuse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-29
Updated: 2016-10-29
Packaged: 2018-08-27 16:19:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8408389
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tbiru/pseuds/tbiru
Summary: Pepper and Tony love one another, sure, but is the relationship a healthy one? The answer's no. Supportive team/family. Everybody is a good bro.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I love Pepper, I just felt like making her the bad guy today. If she's your fave this probably isn't for you.

Tony doesn't actually notice it at first, because like most abuse, it starts out very gradually. 

When she says "I love you." the exclamation is always followed up with a "but". 

"Tony, I love you, but I swear, if you don't clean up this mess..." and then Pepper will shake her head as she leaves him alone in the workshop. 

"You know I love you, but if I see one more tabloid with you on the front page..." she will say, almost in passing, rolling her eyes in annoyance. 

She sighs, "I love you but my God is it hard some days." 

This is all after Afghanistan, Tony's in a weird, lonely space, so all he really ever hears is "I love you.", ignoring any criticism attached to the sentiment. 

Sometimes Pepper will start a fight for the heck of it. 

It's his birthday and she says, "We're going to celebrate, I'll make reservations, you just be ready by 7 o'clock and I'll come pick you up." with a sweet smile and a kiss. 

Tony showers, dries off, puts on a nice suit, one he knows she'll like on him, and spends a few minutes on his hair in front of the mirror before spritzing on some cologne and donning on his dress shoes. It's still thirty minutes to seven when he's done getting dressed, so he sits on the edge of his bed and entertains himself with some S.I. specs on his tablet for the time being. 

It's half past seven when he realizes Pepper still hasn't called him. He considers calling her to remind her, in case she forgot, but then decides not to when he imagines how irritated it would make her if she's busy. He waits another twenty minutes before finally deciding to text her. 

_ Hey Pep  _

_ Are you ready?  _ She replies, a minute later.

_ Yep  _

_ Then come downstairs.  _

Tony smiles, perfect timing then. 

She's parked in front of his house when he steps out. He gets in the passenger seat and kisses her in greeting, though she's not very receptive. "So where are we goin' tonight?" he asks, once he's buckled in. 

Pepper grimaces. "Well we were supposed to go to that new Italian place that just opened up, but we've missed our reservation." 

Tony shrugs, no biggie. "There's always that other--" 

"Do you even know what seven o'clock means?" she interrupts, her voice sharp, angry eyes set on the road. 

"What?" 

"Seven. I said be ready by seven. I've been waiting almost a full hour for you." she grits out, her nails digging into the steering wheel. 

Tony blanches. "Oh, you were downstairs this whole time? Why didn't you call me?" 

Pepper shakes her head. "I told you seven, so of course I'd be waiting for you at seven, Anthony." 

Tony hates when she uses his full name like that, because she only does that if he's fucked up. "I know, I was ready before then, I was just waiting for you to call me. I didn't know you were waiting." 

"It's common sense." Pepper huffs in frustration. "Look, I'm not in the mood for this right now." she does an extremely illegal u-turn and goes well above the speed limit until they're in front of his house again. "Go." 

Tony blinks, shocked. "What?" 

"Go. Get out of my car. Night's ruined anyway. I'm going home." she doesn't even look at him when she says it. 

He gets out, feeling dumb and numb all at the same time, wondering what on earth just happened, and that's the end of that. 

She doesn't talk to him for two days. 

On Monday morning Pepper greets him at the office with a warm kiss and a flirtatious grin. "I pushed your meetings back a day so we could go to the beach today--what do you say--play hooky with me?" the impromptu trip almost makes him forget about the incident on his birthday.

 

 

There are other times, where fights like that just seem to pop up out of seemingly silly reasons. 

But the worst is the way she talks down to him. 

She knows this is his first real relationship, and she knows that besides her, he's only got Rhodey, and Rhodey is so very rarely around. 

So she'll make snide comments like "Tony, I know I'm your first girlfriend, so I'm going to pretend I didn't just see you talking to the rolling claw." refusing to even acknowledge any of Tony's 'bots by their given names. 

She'll say, in a condescending tone "That's not how relationships work Tony, you'd know if you maybe had more than two people who actually like to be around you." but she says it with laughter in her voice, so that it almost sounds joking instead of just mean. 

 

 

Tony only begins to notice something's off after the Avengers move into the tower with him. 

He and Pepper are eating breakfast in the communal kitchen together before work. Natasha and Clint sit across from the couple and they all make small talk for a bit until Steve walks in from his morning run in a muscle tee and sweatpants. 

Pepper looks from the Captain to her boyfriend and raises a manicured brow, "Maybe cut down on some of that." and then she pinches Tony's lower belly as if to prove a point. 

Tony's whole face goes beet red, and he puts down the piece of french toast he'd been about to eat. 

"Come on, we're going to be late, and I don't think I need to remind you, this is one meeting you can't afford to miss." Pepper dabs her lips delicately on a napkin and drags him out of there before anyone can think to say anything. 

A moment of silence follows their departure before Clint scrunches up his whole face and wonders out loud, incredulously, "Did that seriously just happen?" 

"Yeah...." Steve frowns. He doesn't really know what to say. "I'm new to this time, but I'm pretty sure stuff like that’s still not ok." 

Natasha folds her arms across her chest and leans back in her chair. "Is that how she normally talks to him?" 

Tony never brings it up so they decide to keep their eye on the situation, in case they aren't overreacting, and it isn't just a one time thing.

 

 

It's movie night at the tower and everyone is present. Thor and Jane are wrapped around one another on the loveseat, throwing popcorn into each others' mouths and occasionally at Clint's face when he makes fun of them for being so lovey-dovey. 

Coulson is seated between Nat and Clint, who're both using his shoulders as headrests. Bruce is sitting on the floor, leaning against Tony's feet, who's in the other loveseat with Pepper draped over him. Steve and Bucky are also on the floor, on a mound of couch pillows, in the middle of the room, where the coffee table once stood. 

They're watching one Natasha and Coulson have wanted to watch for a while now, it's Sandra Bullock and George Clooney in space, though Steve's more interested in the actual picture production than the movie plot itself. On Tony's giant HD television screen space looks amazing. 

There's chaos as Sandra Bullock gets thrust into the nothingness of space, as she attempts to grab onto Clooney's hand and ultimately fails. 

And then silence. 

And then labored, panicked breathing. 

Wait. Steve blinks when he realizes that last sound isn't actually coming from the film. 

"Tony?" Bruce says, worried, when he feels his friends' leg trembling minutely beside him. 

Pepper's disentangled herself from her boyfriend and is staring at him in what could only be perceived as irritation. 

Tony's clearly working hard to stop his own panic attack, one hand gripping the arc reactor, the other digging into the arm of the couch. "Sorry." he breathes out, strained, eyes shut tight. 

Pepper stands up, "I'm going home." she says, not bothering to say goodbye to anyone else. She looks embarrassed, like she can't believe Tony's doing this to her in front of other people. She gathers her belongings and leaves without another word. 

"Hey, Tony, we're here, it's me, Steve, we're in the tower and everyone is okay, you're okay." Steve kneels down in front of Tony, trying not to loom over him and freak him out even more. 

Tony covers his face with his hand and takes a deep shuddering breath; it sounds almost like a sob. "Sorry." he repeats shakily. "I didn't mean to--I just--space--" 

"Hey, hey, it's alright, you don't need to apologize," Steve assures immediately, tone soft and kind. 

Tony lets out another deep breath and sniffles. "Ruined movie night." he says, face still covered so no one can see how red his eyes have become from trying not to outright cry right there. 

"No way, I wanted to watch Inside Out, anyway, this movie was boring me half to death!" Clint pipes in, and his fingers are twitching, itching to reach out and grab onto their resident genius extraordinaire, to offer some sort of comfort. Coulson sees his boyfriends' anxiety and rests one hand over his shoulder, kneading the muscle there to calm him down. 

"Birdbrain's right," Natasha says, "JARVIS, if you would be so kind." 

JARVIS responds by immediately putting on the Inside Out film, as if he'd been awaiting the order from the get go. "Of course Agent Romanoff." 

Tony doesn't know what to say or what to do or generally how to react. The whole team is all smiles and an overwhelming kindness Tony's not sure he deserves. No one's ever shown him this kind of compassion before, not since Rhodey, and it’s been awhile since they were last even in the same room due to their hectic overlapping schedules. 

"Scooch over." Bucky motions with his hand and then plops himself on the loveseat, making it a nice tight fit. 

Bruce goes back to leaning against Tony's leg, and Steve sits between Tony and Bucky's legs, making himself comfortable. 

Bucky's warm and his presence is firm, and although Tony's a little stiff next to him at first, it's not long before he's curled up against the super-soldier, exhausted from his panic attack and drifting. He doesn't even stir when Bucky puts one protective arm around his shoulder and pulls him in closer. 

  
  
  


The next day everyone’s seated at the kitchen, drowning in coffee and scrambled eggs, when Natasha says, never one to beat around the bush, "Where did Potts go after her tantrum last night?" she's still pissed, she can't believe Pepper would actually leave her partner at his most vulnerable, so maybe she doesn't bring it up in the most delicate of ways, but she can't help herself. 

Tony nearly drops his mug. "What? She didn't throw a tantrum." 

Steve grimaces. "Maybe not, but it wasn't pretty. She just up and  _ left you _ last night." 

Tony shrugs. "She hasn't had the best experiences in dealing with my..." he coughs, clearing his throat, "Panic attacks." 

Bruce puts down his newspaper and sighs. "It's never easy, Tony, but that's kinda the point of having a significant other. They're there with you through the good and the bad." 

Tony makes a face. "Right, well, lately it's more bad than good, and it's hard on her, having to take my shit all the time, ok? She's just stressed out, why are you guys trying to make her out to be the bad guy in all this?" 

Bucky holds up his hands in surrender, not liking the cornered look in the man’s eyes. "We just worry about you, dollface, you're one of ours, so we just want ya' to know we have your back, we're here for you, if Miss Potts ever isn't around." 

Tony nods, mumbles a 'thanks', and beats it out of the room hastily.  

"Well that went swell." Clint sighs. 

"We'll just have to keep an eye out." Coulson says, "Who knows, maybe it's just like he said, she's stressed out, it happens in relationships, things like this take a strain on both people. Maybe we’re not being fair. We don’t know the whole story, after all." 


	2. Chapter 2

Two days later Coulson enters the tower and he's fuming. 

"We need to do something about Potts." 

The room consists of every Avenger except Tony, because he's been in his lab for the last fifteen hours and counting, trying to finish up a project for S.I. 

"What happened?" Natasha sits up, picking her head up off of Clint's lap.

"I overheard her talking to someone on the phone when I went to Stark Industries to speak to her about some contracts." Coulson's grinding his teeth, looking hideously angry. "She was telling her friend about the other night, about how she knows Tony's still dealing with the New York incident and about how he specifically told her he wanted to skip out on movie night that day. She said she got mad at him and threatened to break up if he didn't  _ get over  _ it--" 

"What the fuck." Clint can't believe his ears. 

Bruce gets up and says, "I'll be back." which is code for 'I need to go out and meditate before the Hulk tries to destroy this entire tower and then some'. 

“You’re not serious, she did what?” Steve looks like he might just need to do something similar, because he breaks the cup of juice he’s holding, glad there’s barely any left to stain the rug. 

Bucky goes for the dustpan and sets about cleaning the remains of the cup, “So you’re saying Tony said ‘No honey, I  _ don’t  _ wanna’ watch a space movie because I’m afraid it’ll give me flashbacks, can I skip this one please?’ and she told him it was her way or the highway?” he reiterates, just to make sure he heard right. 

Coulson throws his suitcase down forcefully and sighs, “That’s the gist of it, yes.” 

Natasha stands up, fists clenched at her sides. “I’m going to punch her in her face with brass knuckles on.” 

“You are not punching a civilian in the face.” Coulson arches a brow at her. “Or anywhere for that matter.” he adds, when she opens her mouth to complain. 

“Well we have to do something, because that is not okay, not by a long shot.” Steve says, face scrunching up in anger. 

“What can we do?” Thor wonders aloud, “Did our first attempt not fail?” 

Clint frowns. “Can’t we just take her out? I have great aim. We can make it look like an accident.” and no one’s entirely sure as to whether or not he’s joking. 

Coulson waves him off. “No. Look, we went about it all wrong. We basically put him on the spot, we ganged up on him about it. We need to talk to him one on one, let him know we’re here for him, whatever he decides to do. 

“I really don’t think he even sees that the way she’s behaving towards him isn’t healthy. Maybe this is actually just a bad time in their relationship and not their relationship normally, maybe they need couples counseling.” 

“Last week she compared him to Cap and implied he should stop eating, in the middle of breakfast.” Natasha says, realizing only a few of them were present when this went down. “That’s twice, that we’ve noticed, that she’s done something awful. So no, I really doubt they need couples therapy. I think he needs her out of his life.” 

“Whatever he chooses, we should be supportive.” Steve says, “Although I agree with Nat.” 

  
  
  


Bucky brings Tony something to eat later that evening. “Bruce made meatball subs for dinner, here.” He settles it on the desktop that’s least littered with papers and watches Tony start digging in. “Woah, slow down there or you’re gonna’ choke.” 

Tony stops eating almost instantly, “Oh shit, I forgot, I’m not supposed to eat carbs.” 

Bucky raises an eyebrow at the genius. “You on a diet? Because I know for a fact that the last time you actually ate something was well over twenty hours ago.” Tony gives him a look and Bucky says, “I asked JARVIS.” 

Tony mutters ‘traitor’ under his breath and then sighs. “Pepper said I should try to lose a few pounds so she put me on this diet,” he shrugs. “I’m not allowed to eat carbs anymore.” he looks down at the sandwich, which he’s only eaten maybe a third of, in disappointment. “You will be missed.” 

Bucky tries not to throw something. “Tony,” he says, keeping his tone light, “Eat the damn sandwich. You haven’t eaten all day, it won’t kill you.” 

“But Pepper--” 

“Won’t know you ate carbs, my lips are sealed, I swear.” The super-soldier holds the sandwich up to Tony and then gives him his best puppy-dog eyes--which are nothing compared to Steve’s, but he’s learned from the best after all these years, so it’s not ineffective, either. 

Tony makes a face. “Fine, fine.” he takes the sandwich and starts at it again, more slowly this time. “Thanks.” 

Bucky sits there and watches him eat, occasionally making small talk and when Tony’s done, Bucky takes his plate and wipes his face with a napkin, ignoring Tony’s whining. “M’not a baby.” 

Bucky grins. “Hey. I’m your elder, so technically yes, a baby.” 

Tony sticks out his tongue. 

“Thanks for proving my point.” Bucky sets the plate down after a moment and then takes a breath. “So, about the other night--” 

“I thought we went over this.” Tony crosses his arms over his chest and hunches in on himself a little. 

“We did, we did, but, listen, just hear me out,” Bucky chews on the side of his lower lip, “You’re my friend. I care about you, so if you ever need someone to talk to, someone to listen, anything, you call me. Or Steve, or Nat, hell, anyone of us are here for you. You know that, right?” 

Tony looks down. “I know.” he’s surprised to find that that’s not a lie. He does know they’re there for him, they’re a team, they’re friends, closer than that, maybe. “I don’t know what any of this has to do with what happened, you know, when I spazzed out.” 

Bucky grimaces. “I’m worried about you, about your relationship with Pepper.” 

Tony shakes his head, “What? Why?” 

“Tony, have you ever considered that your relationship with her isn’t exactly healthy?” 

Tony turns away, “Look, I know I’m a fuckup, I know she deserves better, but that doesn’t mean--” 

“No no no! Jesus! Tony, dollface, look at me.” Bucky waits until the other man is facing him again. “This is about  _ Pepper’s  _ behavior, okay? I don’t think she treats you right.” 

Tony blinks, surprised. “What are you talking about?” 

“I heard the whole story; that she knew you’d probably have a panic attack if we watched that damn movie and had the nerve to get mad at you for it!” 

Tony narrows his eyes, “How the hell did you--” he pauses and shakes his head. “Look, first of all, that’s personal, yes, we argued earlier that night about the movie, I didn’t want to go, but she didn’t make me do anything, I went on my own--” 

“After she gave you an ultimatum!” Bucky snaps, throwing his arms up in the air in frustration. The way Tony flinches at the gesture makes the ex soldier freeze. “Is she…” he swallows hard. “Tony, is she hitting you?” 

Tony blinks. “Are you really asking me that?” he shakes his head, “Of course she doesn’t hit me. Christ, you just startled me, that’s all. Look, this conversation is over. I need to get this done before morning. You know where the door is.” He turns away and delves back into his work, steadfast ignoring the other man entirely.

It’s only after he leaves that Tony reflects on his own reaction. Pepper doesn’t abuse him, not emotionally, and certainly not physically. 

Sure, sometimes when they’re arguing she’ll shove him out of the way a little too hard and lately she’s gotten into the habit of throwing things at him, but it’s always pens or piles of paperwork, harmless stuff. And maybe that’s why he flinched? 

Tony shakes the thought away. 

  
  
  


Two days later Pepper flings a stapler at Tony in a fit of anger. “Are you seriously walking away right now?” she yells. 

The stapler catches him on the shoulder, hard. “Pepper, what the hell?” Tony turns around, shocked. 

“Explain this photo to me!” 

“I did!” Tony yells back. “Pepper, I am not cheating on you with Natasha!” It’s a photo in front of a gossip magazine of him and Nat together at a black tie event the night before. He’d invited Pepper to come with him but she’d declined due to a business trip. Nat had been in the room when they’d talked about it the week before and had later offered to go with him. 

“How am I supposed to believe that?” Pepper exclaims. 

Tony huffs. “By trusting me?” 

Pepper scoffs. “With your reputation?” 

“What is that supposed to mean?” 

“Oh, don’t act like this is news. Tony, you’ve put your dick into so many holes at this point I’m surprised there aren’t any women clamoring for child support.” Pepper folds her arms across her chest. “Do you know how hard it is to trust someone like you? I deal with it because I love you. I can’t believe you’d go to that party without me and then have the gall to take Natasha with you!” 

Tony grimaces. “It wasn’t a party, it was a charity event.” he looks away. “Look, I know I’ve slept around in the past, but I would never do that to you, I love you.”

“Do you?” Pepper sighs, sits down in her office chair and puts her head in her hands. “Because I feel like I’m always making all these compromises for you and you don’t even care.” 

“What? No, Pepp, I do, I’m sorry.” Tony scratches the back of his head, guilt ridden. “I promise you I’ll do better.” 

Pepper looks up and narrows her eyes at him. “Promise me that I’ll never see another photo of you with another woman on your arm on the tabloids again, Tony. It’s humiliating.” 

Tony nods feverently. “I swear, Pepper. I really am sorry.” 

Pepper takes a deep breath, gathers herself again and finally nods. “Fine.”

**Author's Note:**

> NOTE: I based their unhealthy relationship on one I was in a few years back. It escalated so gradually to physical abuse that I didn't even realize I was in an abusive relationship until I was in the back of an ambulance. My point being emotional abuse can be hard to understand when it's happening to you. Hopefully this story shows what I'm trying to get across?


End file.
